Song Styles
Song Styles (called Song Style beginning in US season 9) was a game played on both the British and American editions of Whose Line. The British version featured a performer (often Josie Lawrence or Mike McShane) being given a subject and style for the song by the audience after particular prompts from Clive Anderson. This gave rise to performances such as Josie's Irish jig about a strimmer and Mike's famous disco song about a train set (a performance which even had Clive singing along). On rarer occasions, the subject was a woman in the audience and her job, hence Chip Esten's early appearance performing a reggae song about "Yvette, my favourite receptionist". The songs about people tended to be a little more ribald than those about objects. Early in the American edition, the songs were almost exclusively about people from the audience, of both genders, and their occupations. The other change was that the styles were assigned by Drew Carey and were often rendered as "In the style of Prince" or another famous musician. These songs tended to be performed by Wayne Brady, regardless of the gender of the audience member or the artist being parodied. Wayne's song to Cyrus the retired merchant sailor in the style of Mae West is a prime example. Some performances were done about objects, however these were quite rare. In various playings, the non-singing performers were called on to provide "backup", often just as dancers. One such performance had Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, and Greg Proops doing an impression of the zombie dancers in Michael Jackon's "Thriller" video. A particularly famous performance of this sort is the "100th episode" of the American edition, in which Wayne sang a song to a man named Howard in the style of the Village People with the others backing him up. This is the performance in which Laura Hall's drum machine speeds up in the middle of the song. Later in the American Edition, the songs were about the various special guests. The styles would be chosen by Aisha Tyler, and the songs would be sung by Wayne Brady. Appearances UK Appearances Series 1: 1, 5, 11, 12, and 13 Series 2: 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, and 17 Series 3: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 17 Series 4: 6 and 8 Series 5: 2, 5, 6, 7, and 9 Series 6: 8, 10, and 12 Series 7: 1, 2, and 12 Series 8: 5, 9, and 13 Series 9: 6, 11, 12, and 15 Series 10: 4 US Appearances Season 1: 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, and 18 Season 2: 6, 10, 11, 15, 16, 22, 25, 27, 28, 29, and 32 Season 3: 1, 4, 8, 19, 23, 26, 29, 31, 37, and 38 Season 4: 2, 12, 14, 21, 22, and 29 Season 5: 2, 5, 6, 12, 17, 19, 21, 23, and 28 Season 6: 5 Season 7: 18 Season 8: 3, 9, 13, 14, and 19 Season 9: 2, 3, and 7 Season 10: 1, 2, 3, 18, and 22 Season 11: 5, 8, 15, 17 Trivia *The only time Song Styles was played without any musical accompanyment was in the first British season. John Sessions sang a folk song about a television set. *The audience members who were serenaded stayed in the audience until the final British season. UK Series 10 was the first season they were escorted to a seat on stage. See also *Lyrics *Duet *African Chant